Snow Lily

--

The rest of the daylight hours consisted of me working on the sled, splitting more wood and making dinner. I used the camera to record what I was doing as well as a few more status updates. I did notice that the sun had started doing a decent job of melting some of the snow. It would refreeze overnight. My hope was that there would be a decent ice crust that would support our weight once we started on the journey.

Ham Bean soup was the meal for Lily and I for the evening. I opted to scramble some eggs and ham for Nanook. I handed Lily her bowl.

"You're not a bad cook," she complemented. "It's impressive what you've done out here. I would love to have been on a wilderness hike with you instead of that idiot, Jeff. Do you have a girlfriend or wife back home?" she asked.

"No. No I don't," I replied.

Lily sensed the tension in my voice. "I don't mean to pry, but is something wrong?" she asked.

"I guess nothing's wrong now," I answered. "But I was dating someone who turned out to be lying to me about how much they liked the outdoors. Turns out she just wanted screen time on my vlog. I found out I was being used and ended it, but the whole ordeal has put me off thinking I'll ever find someone that loves hiking and nature like I do. I can't seem to find anyone who likes to do this kind of stuff."

"I...I would," Lily said meekly looking down into her bowl.

"That's sweet of you," I said. "If...I mean when...we get out of here and you're better, maybe we can..." My pause betrayed my feelings. Lily was a very pretty girl. If she even remotely liked camping I'd be all for it. But right now, we had a mountain of snow between us and a hospital.

"Maybe we can talk about this later," I weakly offered.

"I hope so," Lily responded.

"Let's check your bandages and get you a change of clothes," I said changing the subject.

Her foot looked no better. She got her clothes changed and I urged her to go back to sleep. I used the time I had after cleaning up dinner to form a harness and tow line for Nanook. The pup loved all the personal attention. I had to fight to keep her quiet so that Lily could sleep. Satisfied that the harness would work, I took Nanook and my camera out for the last time that evening.

I gave a quick status to the camera of the work I had finished on the sled and harness. I filmed Nanook rolling in the snow for a bit, but then I got more serious. "Lily's foot isn't healing and she's starting to show a fever. I suspect she may have an infection. It's imperative that I get her out of here as soon as I can. I know my plan will work, but I am worried nonetheless. She doesn't deserve what has happened to her." I started to choke up a bit. "I hope I can right this wrong," I said with my voice trembling. I clicked off the camera and headed inside to catch a little sleep. I'd still need to be up every couple of hours to feed the stove and check on Lily.

A little after midnight, Nanook alerted on sounds coming from right outside the cabin. From the growls I could tell it was probably a black bear. Nanook sniffed at the door and started to growl herself. I could hear the bear claw the logs of the cabin. I knew the structure would hold up fine. I always make sure to keep any food inside, but I'm sure the bear was attracted by the smell of the stove. I shushed Nanook and we stayed quiet until the bear moved off.

Lily moaned on and off throughout the night. She briefly woke up at one point and asked for water. I obliged and checked her temperature again. She was still feverish.

We made it through to the next morning. I had checked the weather reports. We should be good today and tomorrow. I hoped the weather would hold out. The interrupted sleep was starting to take its toll on me. I was pounding down the coffee just to keep going. Lily seemed a little better this morning. I opened the shutter on the plexiglass window and let in some light.

"After breakfast, I have a little show for you," I said. "I'm going to try to do a little mushing training for Nanook."

"That should be fun!" Lily responded. "I'm sure Nanook would love a ride in the sled while you pull."

I didn't give her wisecrack any notice. "You'll see, these dogs love to pull sleds. It's almost an instinct. Come on Nanook! Let's show her how it's done!"

"Woof!" Nanook barked excitedly.

I threw a couple of logs into the sled for weight and hooked it up to the harness Nanook was wearing. Nanook was raring to go, barking up a storm. I set up a camera to record the training. I stood in front of her and yelled "Hike!". We both took off.

Nanook picked up on the calls pretty quickly. "Gee!" and we'd turn to the right. "Haw!" and we'd turn to the left. "Whoa" and we'd stop. Around and around in front of the cabin we went. Lily could see everything from the window. We tried one more pass, but my foot found a soft spot in the snow and I face-planted right in front of the window in clear view of Lily. Nanook came up to lick the snow off my face. That was enough practice. I unhitched Nanook and we made our way inside.

"Well, at least Nanook was impressive!" Lily joked. "I hope that wasn't 'yellow snow' you face-planted in" she chuckled.

"Thanks," I managed to mutter, cleaning off the snow. My dignity was another casualty.

"Nanook did well. I think we'll be able to give it a go tomorrow first thing," I said. "We all need to keep up our strength for this trip. I still have some more work to do on the sled, then I'll gather what we will need to bring with us."

"Do you really think Nanook will be able to make it the whole way?" asked Lily.

"After what just happened, I'm more worried about me making it the whole way," I smiled to let her know I was joking. "We will need to keep the weight down as much as possible tomorrow and only bring what we need. What's in your backpack that we need to bring? I'll bring back anything we leave behind another day."

"Just my ID, I guess," answered Lily. "Oh...I'm cold!" she started to shiver.

I pulled out the thermometer and measured her temp. She was still feverish. "Here, get under the sleeping bag. Take a nap again if you can," I directed.

I spent the rest of the day making preparations. I made sure Nanook was well fed. She'd be using up a ton of calories tomorrow. I had my share as well. Lily wasn't doing very well and I could only get her to take a little broth. We couldn't get back soon enough. It was already a gamble going out tomorrow, but it was a chance we'd have to take. We'd be running out of food soon at this rate.

That evening, after everything was set and checked, I went outside to make one more journal entry. I sat down in the snow. "This is Bryan," I started. "It's all or nothing tomorrow. I have confidence in Nanook, but it will be quite the effort. I hope I can keep up. We got some more melt today, I hope the ice crust will support me. It should support Nanook and the sled just fine. I'll have my camera gear recording the journey. This way if we don't make it and someone finds the camera they'll know our story. Lily is weak. We have to go."

I paused while still recording. Nanook walked up and began to lick my face. I put my arm around the dog. "At least I've made a new friend," I said. I switched off the camera and went in to try to get some sleep.

A little after 2am, Lily awoke with a start and started screaming. I jumped up and went to her side. Nanook was whining. Lily's words were incoherent. She was obviously in a delirious state due to the fever. I felt her forehead. She was burning up. I did the only thing I could do, hug her and tell her everything was going to be OK. After a few minutes she quieted down and started to hug me back. I wanted to get her to try to settle back down, but she started to cry and hold me even tighter.

"Don't leave me, don't leave me!" she cried over and over. I sat and held her for what seemed like a full hour. As I sat there with her in my arms, I started to think about what we'd have to pull off the next day. I was scared too. I calmed myself by just trying to be there in this moment. I thought about how good it felt just holding her. It made me think about possibly getting to hold her after this nightmare was over with. I put my cheek against hers. She began to calm down.

--

First light found me getting ready for the expedition. Breakfast and coffee was high on the list. I was already running on fumes at this point. I needed to keep it together for myself. I also needed to ensure Nanook was as strong as she could be.

Nanook seemed to be on heightened alert. I guess she could sense that today was important. She gobbled down her breakfast of eggs and spam. I finished dressing in my hiking gear. I had to be light and mobile as I'd be doing the trek by foot. Thank god for all the advanced gear I had access to. I decided to strap a camera to the handlebar of the sled and one to Nanooks harness. I hit record on both.

Lily was coherent but not much else. I had to force some hot liquids into her. I redressed her wound one last time and then wrapped her in as many layers as was feasible. It was time to wrap her up in the sled and secure her for the trip. I carried her out and set her down in the cradle. "I hope you enjoy the scenery!" I said, trying to lift her spirits. She could only nod.

I took Nanook by her collar and hooked her into the harness and then took my position behind the sled. I'd be pushing and running behind. I guessed we'd find out soon enough if my idea was even feasible. I glanced back at the cabin. I quickly thought about how I'd never normally leave the cabin in this kind of a state. Equipment was strewn about inside. Dirty dishes from breakfast and the stove was still billowing smoke. This was not a normal time. I hoped I'd be back one day to clean up the mess.

I turned to face the trial before us. "Hike!" I yelled.

Nanook dug into the snow and I pushed from behind to get the sled moving. It wasn't long before I realized that Nanook had this, no problem. It was all I could do to keep up with the sled. Now I just had to navigate and avoid any pitfalls. Any other time I would have probably had fun with this, but the gravity of the situation was always foremost in my brain.

We reached the creek in almost no time. Lucky for us it was completely frozen over and crossing it was no issue. "Haw!" I yelled out. Nanook barked and made the left turn and we started following the creek's path. "Thank God for this dog," I muttered.

We were making good time, but it still seemed like forever. My thoughts started to wander a bit. I was thinking ahead to whether the roads up at the parking area would be passable. Just then, we hit an area of soft snow in the deep forest. The ice crust in this area was much thinner and my left leg sunk deep into the snow. "Whoa!" I yelled. Nanook came to a stop.

It was all I could do to pull my leg out of the snow drift. Luckily I had my snow shoes with us, so once I was free I strapped them on. It would be much slower going through here. "Hike!" I yelled once again.

From time to time I had to step onto the dragmat to slow Nanook down so that I could keep up. This dog was a dynamo. "Gee!" I yelled as we followed the tree line. After a good 30 minutes, we cleared the deep forest and the ice crust returned. We stopped for a quick break so that I could take off the snow shoes.

"Lily, are you OK?" I asked. She nodded, but seemed to be shivering. "Not much longer now! Nanook is doing amazing!"

Nanook barked and wagged her tail at the praise. I thought I could see Lily smile. I was proud as well. It was looking like we'd pull this off.

"Hike!" I yelled once more. We were moving at pace again. About 10 more minutes in, I noticed one of the runners was starting to come loose from the rest of the frame. I just prayed it would hold together. A lengthy stop for any repairs would only make Lily's state even worse. As it was, I was worried about the cold for her. Nanook and I were working so hard it wouldn't be an issue for us.

"Haw!" I yelled out again. It was the last leg toward where my Land Rover would be parked. I started to worry about the snow plows again. This would all be in vain if we couldn't get out and down the road.

As we got within a few hundred yards I could see huge billows of snow. Thank God. They were using the big rotary snow blowers to clear the forest roads. We had timed it perfectly. "Gee" I yelled and we pulled up right next to the Rover.

I excitedly ran up to Lily. "We're here! We made it!" I yelled.

"Uh huh," was all she could muster. She was shaking violently. I jumped into the car, fired it up and blasted the heat. Then I ran around to Lily, extracted her from the sled and lifted her into the passenger seat.

After buckling her in and shutting the door, I lifted up the hatchback. I quickly loaded up what little gear we had, including the cameras. Then I unhooked Nanook from the harness and led her to jump inside. I shut the hatchback and jumped into the driver's seat.

The roads were clear enough. I dialed up the nearest hospital on the gps and slammed the Rover into reverse. I gunned it and drove over whatever snow was left behind the car. I slammed it into drive and headed for the hospital.

Lily moaned as we traversed the rough roads. I kept talking to her to make sure she was conscious. Nanook was curled up in the back, exhausted. The nearest hospital was just outside the national forest. It only took us about 30 minutes before I pulled up to the emergency room entrance.

I rushed over to the passenger side and grabbed Lily. She wasn't conscious at all, which scared me again. I picked her up and rushed through the ER doors yelling "I need help!"

The staff was responsive. Luckily the snow had kept people indoors and accidents were few. I rattled off her medical status to the nurse, making sure to keep it simple and clear. They placed her on a gurney and whisked her down the hall. I stood there, staring down the hall. It was an empty feeling. The empty feeling of not knowing what to do next.

I was broken out of my stupor by the admin nurse. They needed information. I went back to the Rover to grab her identification. Nanook was still sleeping. I followed the admin nurse down to the intake office.

Forms. Paperwork. It was an unwelcome wakeup call back to the real world. As I struggled through the forms I noticed the nurse was alerted to something on her screen. She instantly seemed uncomfortable, made a quick excuse and left the room. The next thing I knew there were two burley police officers standing next to me.

"We need to have a word with you, Mr. Stone," said the older of the two.

I just looked up at them and nodded. "What's wrong?" I asked.

"My name is Officer Shaw. The woman you brought in was reported missing three days ago. The circumstances of her disappearance are suspect. It was reported to us that she was taken by an unidentified man while hiking in the woods. Considering you've brought her here to the emergency room, I want to hear your side of the story before we take any action."

"I see," I said to the officer. It was obvious to me that Lily's ex-boyfriend had talked to the police and had given them some cock-and-bull story. "I can tell you I did not kidnap or harm this woman in any way. In fact I can prove it."

"How so?" asked the other officer.

"If you will follow me to my vehicle, I have video footage of me rescuing Lily during the snowstorm."

"OK," said Officer Shaw. "But we will be putting these handcuffs on you as a precaution."

"I understand," I responded, putting my arms out for the cuffs. I had no energy to fight and I didn't need to anyway, one look at the rescue footage would clear my name. I just resolved myself to the fact that I owed that bastard Jeff a kick in the nuts myself.

I relayed a quick version of the story of the rescue and the return to civilization to the officers. Once we were at my truck, Nanook was up and barking.

"Is that the dog that pulled the sled?" asked officer Shaw.

"Sure is," I responded. "Do you want to get the recordings or do you want me to get them?"

Both cops looked at the dog barking menacingly at them, then they looked at each other. "We'll let you handle it," officer Shaw said. They released me from the cuffs.

"I went in through the side door and calmed Nanook. I grabbed one of the cameras and the memory card from the night in question. I played the rescue footage for the officers.

"Wow," said the younger officer. "She would have died for sure!"

"Can you give us a copy of that?" asked officer Shaw. "We'll need the evidence."

"Sure," I said. I took his card. "I think you'll need to talk to Lily when she's better, she'll give you a different story than the one you've been fed."

"We'll be doing just that. We're sorry we had to bother you Mr. Stone. You are free to go."

I watched the cops walk away. Nanook was still up and looking through the windows. I took her on a short walk. It was now time to get back to my place.

Once we got back into the Rover and I was in the driver seat, I decided to record a final entry. I grabbed the camera and flicked it on.

"This is Bryan. I...uh..." I couldn't get the words out. It hit me all at once. We had made it. I was completely exhausted, but Lily was now going to get the care she needed. I started to choke up and cry a bit. I looked out the side window. That's when Nanook looked over the seat and began to lick my cheek. I smiled and rubbed her head.

"Sorry...I've been running on pure adrenaline for days now. It's 3pm on the 29th. We made it back. Lily is being evaluated in the hospital as I speak. I guess I will have a new roommate for a while." I grabbed Nanook in a hug. "This dog saved us again. She performed beautifully. I just hope we got Lily here in time."

I shut off the recording, started up the car and put it in gear. It was time to make our way home.

--

It was 6am when I was woken up by a whine and a growl. I was face down on my bed. I rolled over and looked at the time, I realized I had been sleeping for 12 hours. Once the adrenaline stopped rushing through my veins I crashed. I had slept the sleep of the dead.

"Woof!" was the call from Nanook. Her bladder wouldn't hold much longer. I let her out the back to do her business while I made some coffee. My thoughts quickly turned to Lily's status, so I grabbed my phone and called the hospital. Lucky for me I was the only one they could put on her contact list at the time, so the nurse was allowed to give me some information.

"Lily had an operation during the night to remove foreign matter left in her foot from when she first cut it open," the nurse stated. "They were able to get it out and get her stable. She is on meds for the infection and there are no signs of frostbite. She is sleeping comfortably right now. She won't be able to have visitors for a while, but you can call her later. She is in room 443."

"Thank you very much," I stated.

"By the way," continued the nurse. "Word's getting around about what you did for her. You're a hero!"

"I don't feel like one right now," I responded. "Unless heroes are supposed to feel like they've been run over by a truck."

The nurse giggled. "Take care of yourself. She should be able to have visitors tomorrow."

"Thanks," I said, hanging up.

Tomorrow, I thought. Tomorrow is New Year's eve. This week didn't go anything like I had originally planned. I'd still be out at the cabin if it had. As it was, I was still tired from the ordeal. I resolved to just take it easy today. Other than feeding myself and the dog, I figured I'd just poor through the recordings I had made.

As I reviewed the recordings, I realized I had a lot of amazing footage of the entire odyssey. From the night of the rescue through to the dog sled trek back. It was raw and real. I realized telling it would make a great story. I excitedly jumped into editing. I wasn't going to do much polishing, I just needed to cut down on the hours and hours of footage. I didn't even need to narrate very much. My real time entries into the video log were enough to tell the story as well as relay the urgency of the situation.